Reading The 1000 Books to Read Before I Die

  “We were only a part of our time, it was our illusion that we were the most important part, but most Americans knew that we were not, and they were right” Murray Kempton Part of Our Time Some Ruins and Monuments of the Thirties Review by James Romano Hello 1000 Bookies!!  Our latest stop on the 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die is 1930s America for a nonfiction book entitled, Part of Our Time: Some Ruins and Monuments of the Thirties , by Murray Kempton.  This book is a collection of essays about American Members of the Communist Party during the 1930s. Murray Kempton was a journalist and a social & political commentator.  Mr. Kempton started his career as a copy boy for the great H.L. Menken at the Baltimore Sun.  Kempton's career would eventually take him to the New York Post (twice), the New York Herald Tribune, the New Republic and the National Review.  He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1985 for political and social commentary.  Part of Our Time...

  “ And Sandra's gonna use my brain to make a bigger dummy out of the other dummy." Lou Costello, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Frankenstein Or the Modern Prometheus A Review by Jim Romano Hey 1000 Bookies! Happy Halloween my friends!!!!  Our next stop on The 1,000 Books to Read Before You Di e is Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley.  The story is set in Geneva, Switzerland where Ms. Shelly was visiting with her lover and his friends to escape the scandals their affairs produced in England.  The origins of how this story came to be written are more fascinating than the novel itself.  According to Mary Shelley, a contest developed between herself; her married lover and future husband, Percy Shelley; and his friend and the lover of her stepsister (and many others), the famous Lord Byron.  The contest was who could write the best ghost story amongst the three.  Eventually the two men two dropped out of the competition, but Ma...

“Sherlock Holmes is my friend.” John Watson in response to Count Dracula as to why he joined the odyssey against him.  Sherlock Holmes vs Dracula A Review by Jim Romano Hey 1000 Bookies!!  Welcome to Halloween Season.  This week our travels through literature takes us to Victorian England in the late 1890s.  Our portal lands us at Loren Estleman’s novel entitled Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula .  Originally published in 1978, the great detective and his sidekick meet one of the most evil men in literature.  With this time of year, I love spooky books and this novel is quite spooky and of course fun.  The story runs in conjunction with and parallel to Bram Stoker’s gothic horror novel, Dracula , which I read (and blogged about) last Halloween (https://www.reading1000books.com/2019/10/i-know-there-is-no-such-person-as.htm).  Holmes and Watson are injected into the fight against Count Dracula.  This story is approximately 200 pages and pretty easy t...

  “ Columbus was never more zealous than when in pursuit of an illusion” Laurence Bergreen Columbus: The Four Voyages A Review by James Romano Hey 1000 Bookies!!  Welcome to Columbus Day 2020.  In honor of this day, I am reviewing Columbus: The Four Voyages by Laurence Bergreen.  Mr. Bergreen is an accomplished historian with volumes on other explorers like Marco Polo and Ferdinand Magellan.  This is the first biography I ever read regarding Christopher Columbus.  As a (proud) Italian American, I have an interest in the history of Columbus. We all learn the mythology--Columbus discovered America, he proved the world was round.  Then in school you learn that Columbus wasn’t the first person to come to the New World, just the first one to record the trips in a meaningful way and begin colonization.  Now of course, Columbus is quite reviled, albeit for good reasons.  In honor of this Columbus Day, I would actually read a biography of him. ...

  “So, it came to pass that as he trudged from the place of blood and wrath his soul changed.”— Stephen Crane   The Red Badge of Courage A Review by James Romano Hello 1000 Bookies!!  This week our magic portal takes us to the time of the American Civil War.  For me, the Civil War is all around me, I just have to look out my front door and my back door as I live on the hallowed ground where many gave their lives.  Our next stop of the 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die is The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane.  This story of the Civil War is most intriguing because Crane did not fight in the war and was born after the war ended yet captured the essence of a youth fighting in the war.  Unlike other war stories such as The Killer Angels , you really never know what battle our hero is fighting.  Although a year later, Stephen Crane published a short story sequel where readers find out that battle was the Battle of Chancellorsville.  T...